Nerve irritation lands Giese on DL, Gonzalez back up

Lefty Gio Gonzalez is back because reliever Dan Giese was placed on the DL with an irritated ulnar nerve.

“The nerve in my elbow jumped ship and it causes numbness down to my hand when it bounced around,” Giese said. “I’ve had it before but not this bad.”

Giese said he has had the problem on and off since 2007 and he said he felt it again during his last outing, nearly falling to his knees on one pitch. He said he knows it’s usually at least two weeks before he’s OK to pitch again.

Surgery is sometimes necessary – reliever Russ Springer had surgery to move his ulnar nerve, and he said rehab is usually four months. His was 10 days because he had a surgery not done on athletes because it’s not as stabilizing. Instead of being anchored near the bottom of the elbow, the nerve is essentially bunched up higher up along the forearm, and it’s more likely to move again. That is exactly what happened to Springer. He was lucky, though – it moved to an area where it’s not a problem. He said he was on the mound again so fast, his arm was still black and blue its entire length.

“I don’t recommend it,” he said.

Gonzalez was 1-1 with a 4.44 ERA at Triple-A Sacramento, allowing 21 hits, 20 walks and 28 strikeouts in 24 1/3 innings. He also made one appearance with Oakland this year, working five innings and allowing five hits, four walks and three runs. Giese is 0-3 with a 5.32 ERA in seven games, including one start.

This is the eighth time the A’s have used the DL this year. The team has used the DL 55 times since the start of the 2007 season.